Yes on Proposition 8 Response to Lawsuit

Lawsuit Lacking Merit

Of course Equality California would head for the courts after the votes counted are not in their favor. I think it is a rickety course to pursue. Andrew Pugno, General Counsel of ProtectMarriage.com, said:

The ACLU/Equality California lawsuit is completely lacking in merit. It is as if their campaign just spent $40 million on a losing campaign opposing something they now say is a legal nullity.

Mr. Pugno further states:

The lawsuit filed today by the ACLU and Equality California seeking to invalidate the decision of California voters to enshrine traditional marriage in California’s constitution is frivolous and regrettable. These same groups filed an identical case with the California Supreme Court months ago, which was summarily dismissed. We will vigorously defend the People’s decision to enact Proposition 8. (ProtectMarriage.com News, Statement By Andrew Pugno, General Counsel of ProtectMarriage.com)

Right to Amend Constitution Reserved by the People

Most people know that the right to amend California’s Constitution is not granted to the People, it is reserved by the People. The People’s exercise of their sovereign power has reversed an interpretation of their Constitution through the initiative-amendment process. Mr. Pugno cites two cases in his statement to explain how the process works.

In a way, one wonders what all the fuss is about. Consider Elton John:

I don’t want to be married. I’m very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership,” said John. “The word marriage, I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have civil partnerships. (USA Today, “Elton John: Where Prop 8 went wrong“)

Back to the lawsuit. Ron Prentice stated:

ProtectMarriage.com also wants you to know that a strong legal defense of Proposition 8 is being prepared. We anticipated that Prop 8’s passage would result in advocates of same-sex marriage turning to the courts to attempt to overturn the People’s affirmation of traditional marriage as a societal good. We will be announcing our legal strategy next week, but rest assured that we will vigorously defend the People’s will to enshrine traditional marriage in the state Constitution. (ProtectMarriage.com News, Statement of Ron Prentice, Chairman, ProtectMarriage.com — Yes on 8)

Phenomenal Effort

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If the lawsuit passes then the final say on what becomes constitutional will be in the hands of a few judges for every future proposition. It will effectively leave the people of California with no recourse. Every proposition result will be subject to judicial review. But for now my congratulations to the historic campaign to pass Proposition 8, a phenomenal effort. Said Mr. Prentice, “This victory would not have been possible without the support of our 70,000 contributors and over 100,000 dedicated volunteers. It was accomplished with the strong participation of about 80% of California voters, or nearly 14 million people participating in this expression of the People’s will.”

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Same-Sex Marriage and Proposition 8. Includes LDS documents, interviews, video, and links to websites.